Most bands playing popular modern music will include a drummer, playing a drum set, also called a drum kit. The drum kit typically consists of a bass drum, snare drum, tom toms, cymbals, and a high hat cymbal. Modern drumming techniques have evolved significantly since the advent of rock and roll music in the 1950's. Modern drummers have a wide variety of percussive instruments, as well as the typical kit components, and they arrange these different instruments to suit their particular tastes and styles.
A high hat cymbal actually consists of two cymbals facing each other. The high hat cymbal is struck by a drumstick, but is also operated using a foot pedal. The foot pedal operation consists of “closing and opening” the high hat, that is bringing the top cymbal into tight contact with the bottom cymbal to make a staccato sound, known as closing the high hat, or allowing the top cymbal to rise into looser contact with the bottom cymbal creating a ringing or less staccato sound, known as opening the high hat.
The drummer keeps the high hat in the closed position by depressing the foot pedal. Releasing the foot pedal allows a spring mechanism to raise the top cymbal into the open position. With a conventional high hat arrangement, the drummer must have a foot on the high hat foot pedal to operate the instrument. Also, to operate the high hat cymbal in the closed position, the drummer must still have one foot on the foot pedal. This “ties up” one foot and makes it impossible for the drummer to use that foot to operate other instruments.
The bass drum is struck by a mallet which is operated by a foot pedal. Modern drumming techniques, especially in rock genres such as hard rock, heavy metal, speed metal, etc., call for a technique that uses two bass drum pedals, commonly referred to as “double bass”. Since the drummer only has two feet, he or she cannot operate two bass drum pedals and a high hat pedal simultaneously.
Since the desired default position for the high hat cymbal is the closed position, it is known to disengage the top cymbal from the central shaft that ties it to the foot pedal in order to drop into a closed position with the bottom cymbal. Ideally, disengaging the top cymbal and allowing it to fall into the closed position should be done with minimum distraction to the drummer. However, the top cymbal needs to be re-engaged so that the drummer can operate it using the high hat foot pedal, again, while minimizing distractions to the drummer. In summary, the top cymbal needs to be engaged and disengaged without interfering with the drummer's playing in any way.
Attempts have been made to solve this problem in the prior art, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,667,562; 4,730,532; 4,928,567. These designs require action on the part of the drummer, leading to distraction, or are overly complex, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,776, or create additional clutter in the drummers playing area.